DESIGN. WHAT’S THE POINT?
In one 45-minute tube journey, the average London commuter is exposed to more than 130 adverts.
Okay, so not everyone on the tube is scanning the carriage ads in a desperate attempt not to make eye contact with anyone, but…
THE POINT IS, DESIGN IS EVERYWHERE.
What is design, anyway? It’s that brilliant ad on the telly. The brochure that makes you book a holiday. The reason you choose one brand of coffee over another. The intriguing subject headline that means you’ll open an email instead of binning it.
It’s art, but art with a purpose.
How you look and sound as a business is everything. It’s not just what makes you pretty. It’s what sets you apart from the other guy. It’s what makes the sales. Really, the debate isn’t whether to invest in design or not. It’s whether you do it well or badly (which is how you beat the other guy).
So if design is everywhere and everything, you better make yours sharp and pointy.
WE’VE GOT A POINT TO MAKE
(Well, 7 to be precise.)
STAY SHARP
Throw one tennis ball and they’ll catch it. Throw twelve all at once and every ball will hit the floor. The point is, don’t try to tell your customer everything, every time. Say one thing, and say it well.
Client / Doddle
This project / Multi-channel advertising campaign and brand story.
Brief / Doddle is a SAAS business that supplies worldwide postal and carrier clients (like DPD and Amazon) with a technology platform for digital returns and parcel drop-off kiosks. It’s a very technical business, stuffed with techy terminology. They commissioned us to write and design a ‘brand story’ and accompanying advertising campaign. The aim was to write in a jargon-free human tone, and to promote their technology as a toolkit that pushes carriers to the forefront of the ‘first and final mile’ experience for their customers.
Other stuff we’ve done for this client / Illustration, brand development, copywriting, sales presenters.
DON’T GIVE A FLOCK
Who cares if your logo isn’t blue (like all your competitors)?
Not all heroes wear capes
Some wear foil caps too!
Client / The Modern Milkman
This project / Multi-channel advertising campaign.
Brief / The Modern Milkman delivers milk in glass bottles (and all sorts of other breakfast goods, artisan food and drink and household products too) to your doorstep. They’re fiercely green and keen to shout about their sustainability. By delivering glass bottles rather than plastic, in 2024 they hit the milestone of 100 million plastic bottles saved from landfill, and wanted a campaign that would champion this achievement. We created a fun super hero, in line with their lighthearted brand approach.
Other stuff we’ve done for this client / Multiple advertising campaigns, exhibition kit, illustration, brand development, copywriting.
TURN HEADS
Grab attention by turning things on their head.
Client / Ski Solutions
This project / Multi-channel advertising campaign during COVID.
Brief /
At a time when the travel industry was feeling the acute pain of COVID, Ski Solutions commissioned us to build a campaign that would encourage their customers to keep skiing (while demonstrating it was safe to do so). We decided to flip the negative buzzwords of the pandemic on their head, giving them new, positive meaning in the context of taking to the slopes.
Other stuff we’ve done for this client / Brand development, brochure design, direct marketing.
Run towards the problem, instead of away from it
STAY JUICY
Don’t be a wet lettuce, be the burger.
Client
/ AF Blakemore & Son
This project / Writing, designing and producing a 40-page quarterly magazine for over 600 SPAR UK stores, to engage customers and encourage them to buy recipe ingredients in store.
Brief /
With their existing magazine looking lowend and tired in contrast to competitors’ publications, Blakemore commissioned us to give the mag a complete brand overhaul, including writing all content. We re-designed it from scratch, and now write, design and oversee production of the magazine every quarter.
Other stuff we’ve done for this client / Art direction, brand identity, brochure and magazine design, copywriting, tender docs, POS, interior retail design/theatre, web and app UI.
KEEP MOVING
To schuss or to slalom?
Staying relevant could mean a total brand overhaul... or just a clever tweak.
Old logo - dated icon and logotype that didn’t translate well to digital platforms
great britain ®
Client / Ski Club of Great Britain
This project / Brand refresh and Ski+board redesign.
Brief / Ski Club’s existing logo was looking dated and fussy. They were keen to retain its overall look, but to modify it sympathetically for better standout and flexibility. We redrew it, and introduced a diagonal angle (in between the k and i) that now acts as a graphical device across the brand. You can see this in action on the front cover of Ski+board magazine, which we’ve completely redesigned.
Other stuff we’ve done for this client / We are paid an ongoing retainer by the Club, which means we handle all creative for them, all year round, including digital asset creation, all printed collateral and print production, exhibition kit, report & accounts, Ski+board and stationery.
New logo - with handdrawn bespoke letterforms based on original logotype
Complete re-design of the Club’s Ski+board magazine
Brand in action
SPEAK HUMAN
It’s people (not bots) who are listening, reading and making decisions. So speak to them like one.
Client / AF Blakemore & Son
This project / Brand identity, copywriting and packaging design for a brand new sandwich range.
Brief / AF Blakemore & Son are one of the largest food logistics companies in the UK, servicing retailers, the hospitality industry and SPAR UK. Keen to compete with brands such as Urban Eat, they commissioned us to create a new sandwich brand. We developed the brand identity for Ciao Chow, introducing a distinctive tone of voice that was a little cheeky and very informal, and a striking colour pallete and packaging for maximum stand-out.
Other stuff we’ve done for this client / Art direction, brand identity, brochure and magazine design, copywriting, tender docs, POS, interior retail design/theatre, web and app UI.
Developed with Human Intelligence
CHOOSE TUSK
Tusk Design Studio was founded by usChris and Kate: two heavy-hitting graphic designers and all-round creative thinkers.
Between us and our extended team we cover pretty much all design disciplines. We create beautiful things for print and smart things for digital. Brochures, magazines and direct marketing. Clever ad campaigns that’ll get you noticed on social. A oneoff flyer or a complete brand overhaul.
Whether you’ve got big bucks and bags of time, or tight budgets and even tighter deadlines, we’ll sort it. We’re here for the little jobs, the big jobs, the quick jobs and the really tricky jobs.
All creative, great and small.
Chris / Founder / Creative
In it for the long run since 1998. Chris has a wealth of experience with a career spanning TV motion graphics, conceptual design, advertising and branding. A heavy-hitting conceptual thinker who can take a scribble on a beer mat and turn it into a multi-faceted campaign that’s bang on brief and budget. From scribbles to high-end retouching, art directing a photography shoot or finessing a brand identity, Chris takes the whole process in his stride.
Kate / Founder / Creative / Copywriter
Saw the light in 2010. Before then Kate was a marketeer in the travel industry, with a particular focus on writing sparkling copy. Eventually got fed up with just doing the words bit, so trained as a graphic designer in 2010 and hit the ground running. From a humble first logo for a start-up, to full-blown ad campaigns, brochures and brand identity, she now works across multiple industries, always focusing on aligning great design with great words.
Founder of a hugely successful reusable nappy business, Eve now uses her entrepreneurial and brand expertise to help business leaders develop customercentric strategies that’ll build strong brand loyalty. A true brand wizard who’ll help you get to the heart of what you’re trying to achieve as a business.
Bonnie / Head of Security Eve / Brand Strategist
A highly creative video content producer with extensive experience working on sports, snowsports, documentary, academic, branded and corporate content production. Brings brands - and their stories - to life through brilliant moving content.
Flash / Director of Happiness
James / Video Content Producer
Design is
brochures
direct marketing
ad campaigns
animated content
copywriting
digital banners
logos
brand identity
magazines
exhibition kit
point of sale
merchandise
pitch decks
We
do all this stuff
report & accounts
art direction
websites
Design is not
We don’t do this stuff
stuff created by ai
words written by Chat GPT
layouts done in Powerpoint
Tusk Design Studio
Basement
